Burning Cliffs
by ellibobelli
Summary: Falling, verb: "to drop under the force of gravity". Cliffs, noun: "a high steep face of a rock". Death, noun: "the act of dying; the end of life". All Bella Swan wanted was to escape the fear. Unfortuntely, a mysterious Edward Cullen wouldn't let her.
1. Prologue

Prologue 

I walked home in silence, admiring how the moonlight made the trees seem like they were dancing between the streetlamps. The dark of the night played around me, but I didn't jump at the shadows, my teenage angst gone, swept away with my graduation cap when I let it go in a gust of wind. Was that only a month ago? Was it really only one month ago that I was out partying with my friends, having fun, illegally celebrating our last days as high school students? How had I disconnected with the world so quickly?

I shook away the thought and pulled my jacket closer around me, shivering against the suddenly very cold air. I relished in the thought of getting back to my new apartment, all mine, and curling up with a book that I've read fifty more times than what the book binding can handle. I felt strong, despite my sullenness toward social gatherings and friends, and independent, almost. Invincible.

I reached my apartment building and pushed through the extremely large and heavy doors, briskly walking toward the elevators. I didn't make eye contact with anybody. I didn't try to seem friendly.

The elevator nosily brought me up to my floor as I clutched my keys tightly in my hand. The atmosphere of the building felt…off tonight. It felt icy and dangerous. And honestly, I just wanted to sleep – not that I ever really slept to begin with. I'd curl up in my covers, close my eyes, and listen to the silence. I didn't sleep – and wake up tomorrow all better.

I didn't bother turning on my lights when I pushed my door open – I was so sure as to what the angle was from door to table, from table to hallway. My bedroom was the second door on the right, with a stainless steel doorknob that sparkled slightly in the darkness and an old poster of Linkin Park barely clinging to the wood with weak tape. I strolled serenely across my bedroom, eyes nearly shut and threw my jacket to my left, so it landed lightly on my dresser. I almost smiled at the memory of how I managed to get such an expensive article of clothing – Alice Brandon, my best friend up until a month ago, bought it for me from a way overpriced boutique in Paris. Why, I didn't know.

I collapsed with a sigh on my bed, staring at the ceiling in the peaceful silence. I kicked off my shoes and slowly let my eyes close all the way.

Except, I wasn't alone.

I heard the breathing first. Shallow, like it was forced, but not like someone was dying. I gasped and snapped up, my gaze automatically going to my mirror that hung opposite my bed. I saw my own terrified expression, a wild look in my eyes, before I saw the thick shadow that was just to the left of me, with eyes of twisted crimson. I screamed, jumping off of my bed and blindly stumbling for the light switch.

The lamp snapped on and brightness pooled my tiny bedroom, illuminating the intruder, sitting silently on my bed with a cruel smile. I couldn't help but stare for a moment – he was beautiful. Tall, lean, muscular, with perfect facial features and soft, honey-colored hair. His red eyes looked out of place on his God-like face, but I couldn't make myself move to call the police. Not on someone like _this._ I couldn't even make myself talk. Fear gripped every muscle in my body. Adrenaline sizzled through my veins.

Then, he talked. "Lock your front door, you idiot," he said maliciously, flashing a row of dazzling, lethal teeth. _Sharp_, dazzling, lethal teeth.

I gaped at him, uncomprehending. I did lock my door! I wouldn't be stupid enough to not just leave it open…I blinked, letting out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding. Quickly, I glanced at his hands – he was holding nothing, which hopefully meant he didn't have a weapon. That was a good thing, right?

"You made this too easy, Isabella Swan," his voice was like sugar. Musical, but with a slight Southern accent.

"How…what…who are you?" I finally managed with a shaking voice.

He stood up, so inhumanly graceful that it almost hurt to watch, and walked over to me. I couldn't hold in my gasp. My fingers were still glued to the light switch, trembling. I was plastered to the wall, right where he would want me to be…to kill me. An easy target.

"Jasper Whitlock. It's a pleasure," he held out his hand. I merely stared at it, petrified. He sighed and let his hand fall down to his side. Jasper's red eyes sparkled with hunger.

"What do you want? Money?" Tears were streaming down my face. Jasper only laughed brilliantly.

"It's not money I want, Bella." He smiled again, showing his teeth. They were so deadly looking…

I shook my head in an unspoken plea. I knew self-defense. I could run to the kitchen and grab a knife. But for some reason, I felt as if that wouldn't be enough to kill off _Jasper Whitlock_. Not when, by the looks of it, he planned on killing me using his razor-sharp teeth.

He took a step closer to me, and I robotically took a step backward, stumbling through my open bedroom door and falling onto the ground behind me with a painful _thud._ I looked up through my tears to the face of my killer.

"No, it's not money I want. It's you."

**XXX**

**Based off of the song "Parameters", by Ani DiFranco. I have the first chapter of this written, but, quite honestly, I don't feel like editing and posting it right now. I also don't have an actual plot for this fic. Haha. I'm so horrible at pre-writing. Review if you want me to continue. :) I have over six hours of dance everyday this week, and at least three of those hours are on pointe. Dancers, you understand my pain, right? Good feedback will help me get through the week. :D**


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

"Where to?" the gruff bus driver asked me as I paid him with the few coins I had in my pocket. I shrugged.

"Anywhere. Anywhere but here." I muttered, making my way down the dirty aisle and toward a seat in the back. The bus was empty and cold, dimly lit. At least I couldn't see how gross and dirty the bus was in the poor light. I sat down in one of many empty window seats and set my torn and battered messenger bag in the plastic chair next to me.

I heard the driver grunt softly and the bus gradually started to drift forward. I glared out the window, watching the stars slowly blur as the bus steadily built speed. I wondered idly what the driver's idea of "anywhere" was…

I sighed, leaning my head against the cold window, and closed my eyes. It felt nice to have escaped from the bright city life. To know I didn't have to go back to my apartment tomorrow, wondering, terrified, if _Jasper Whitlock_ would be there again, waiting to pounce. Ready to take home the trophy this time. It had been over a year now, my freshmen year of college behind me, my friends nonexistent. Sure, Alice had tried to reconnect us, but I didn't make much effort on my side of the relationship. Eventually, she let us slip apart.

The bus suddenly sputtered to a halt, and I felt a blast of icy, wet air enter the bus. Who else would be getting on a random bus at one in the morning? There was a shuffling of money and then quiet and tired footsteps as someone walked to a seat. I let one eye open and peek briefly – it was a tall man who had gotten on, with tousled, copper-colored hair. He was already sitting down when I looked, so I only saw the back of him. I closed my eye again when I heard him sigh and tried to fall asleep – unsuccessfully. I never slept much anymore, anyway, too afraid during the night that Jasper would return. I sighed again and pretended.

The night passed slowly. The copper –headed man never left the bus and neither did I. Nobody else entered the bus. Neither of us slept. I didn't know where we were, but the city lights were far behind us, faded in the distance. The sheer terror that had always twisted painfully in my stomach was dying gradually, leaving instead a feeling of hope. Maybe now I could start over, be a new person, begin a new life – one in which I didn't have to fear being killed by a manic murderer.

I concentrated on the steadily beating rain outside, timing my breathing with the soft patters. The sun was struggling to break through the clouds to rise, but was being beaten badly. I _wanted _the sun. And food, I was reminded when my stomach growled loudly. I groaned and let my head fall into my hands.

"I hate this," I whispered, too quietly for the copper-man to hear me over the rain. I let out a long breath and sat up straight, expecting the man to be sitting in his seat, staring out the window like he had been doing all night. Instead, I found that he had silently walked over to me and was looking down on me with curious eyes. Eyes that looked just like Jasper's, deadly and hungry – only, his were a beautiful gold color instead of red. The stranger's face, too, was insanely perfect, with a strong jaw and a straight nose, his strange colored hair sticking up in all directions. He was smiling a little.

"Yes?" I asked, more rudely than I expected it would come out. He blinked, looking taken aback for a brief moment.

"Edward Cullen," he said after a moment of stuttering. I raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to say more. Instead, he held out his hand, and I was instantly, vividly, reminded of that night. I shuddered and ignored his raised hand. He let it drop with a sigh after a moment. "Do you mind if I sit next to you?" His voice was so much like Jasper's that it was scary. Musical, honey, sugar. Only, Edward didn't have an accent.

I shrugged and grabbed my messenger bag, throwing it to the floor by my feet. Edward sat down noiselessly, his eyes never leaving mine. He wasn't smiling anymore, and that somehow frightened me. I took a slow breath and averted my gaze from Edward's flawless face, waiting for him to talk. He didn't.

"Bella Swan. And not to be rude or anything," I finally murmured in a shaky voice, staring out the window. "but can I ask why…you got on a bus at one in the morning?"

I didn't see Edward's reaction but I heard him chuckle. And it was wonderful – melodic and amazing. "I could ask you the same question, Bella Swan" he said.

I shook my head absently, fighting a smile. "I asked you first, Edward Cullen,"

He laughed again, more free this time. I think I melted at the sound of it; with a laugh like that, he could get away with manslaughter. "The food was getting a little boring,"

I snapped my head around so I was looking at him. "The food?" I asked, confused. He merely nodded. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but most people don't leave a big city like New York because the _food _gets boring,"

Edward shook his head, sighing, a soft smile playing at the corners of his lips. His golden eyes danced. "If you knew my lifestyle, you would understand." He stated firmly. I wanted details of his life – and not just because I desperately wanted him to keep speaking. But Edward wasn't going to crack his secret anytime soon, much to my dismay. "What about you? You were on the bus first."

I shrugged, looking at the ground. "My story isn't quite as interesting as yours," I muttered sarcastically. I took Edward's silence as confirmation to continue. "A year ago, I was attacked by a man with red eyes and very sharp teeth." I heard Edward gasp and I looked up in time to see disbelief cross over his face. And…panic?

"You said this happened a year ago?" I nodded, gnawing at my bottom lip - my nervous habit. "Why, do you know a guy with red eyes that attacked a girl like me a year ago?"

Edward chuckled stiffly. "No." I didn't know if I should have been relieved by this fact; Edward had the same look of deadliness to him that Jasper held. I had a strange hunch that I wouldn't have been able to stab Edward with a knife if he was the one attacking me – especially after a managed a quick glimpse at his teeth. Dazzling, sharp, lethal. I tried not to scream out in fear. "What happened? Did he come back?"

I shook my head and hoped my voice wouldn't crack. "I decided that I hated living with the fear. I'm starting fresh, you know?"

Edward didn't answer my question, instead asking one of his own. "Do you know his name, by chance?"

I gasped in surprise. "Why?" I whispered, soft as the moaning wind outside the window.

Edward opened his mouth like he was going to answer then snapped it shut. Silence as he vigilantly avoided my inquisitive gaze. The rain pounded against the windows. The bus shrieked in protest as it slowed to a halt at a stop light.

Finally, I sighed. "Jasper Whitlock." I mumbled. The first time I had spoken Jasper's name aloud in over a year and it was to a complete stranger. Edward's eyes widened and alarm flew across his features. He reached immediately into his pocket and pulled out a very nice and expensive looking phone. He dialed swiftly and pressed the phone to ear.

"Alice?" He asked into the receiver after a moment; I jumped slightly at the name, wondering why _my_ Alice would be hanging out with a person like Edward. But then I realized that there are a lot of Alice's in the world and relaxed a little. Edward started to talk so quickly that it barely looked like he was moving his lips at all. I furrowed my eyebrows and bit my lip, waiting impatiently for Edward to finish. He hung up the phone within a minute and groaned, leaning his back against the seat, and pinched the bridge of his nose."Bella, what happened that night? The night Jasper attacked you?"

"Why should I tell you?" I suddenly decided that Edward Cullen could go fall in a ditch and die. And I'm not normally a violent person by nature, but for some reason, I abruptly really, really didn't like Edward. Hot anger flashed through me and I clenched my fists, my nails biting painfully into my skin.

"Bella, I _need_ to know. I…" I silently urged him to continue with a hateful glare. "I think I might know your attacker."

I sucked in a sharp breath, forgetting to let it out. My jaw was open ridiculously wide but I wasn't particularly caring about my appearance at that moment. I couldn't make myself talk.

"Breath, Bella," Edward said. I obeyed. "I need you to tell me what happened that night." He grabbed my shoulders, shaking me slightly. His hands were ice, like Jasper's. Tears clouded my vision."He…broke in and was waiting for me, in my room. He told me his name and told me that he didn't want money…he said that he wanted me. And then…he attacked. I was so afraid…" I was only half tuned in with the world at that point, the shock freezing me. I barely heard Edward when he asked what happened next. "He…he bit me." My hand subconsciously went up to my neck, where a faint, near invisible, crescent shaped scar had found its home. I shuddered.

"Focus, Bella. Who saved you?" Edward's hands were still resting on my shoulder, I realized then. I concentrated on that fact as I continued.

"Somebody must have heard me scream because the next thing I knew, I heard more people bursting through the door. I thought that Jasper had set my apartment on fire. And then, a doctor leaned over me and said that he would fix the pain. And then…he bit me, too. I woke up the next day in the hospital." I finished feebly, tears streaming down my face.

Edward nodded, staring at me intently, his eyes strangely focused. I never wanted to see this man again. I didn't want to meet up with my past again. I didn't want to have anything to do with anybody who knew the person who tried to kill me. "Is that all?" he asked.

"Yes," Edward let go of my shoulders and stood up gracefully. Edward was too much like Jasper, anyway – I couldn't be friends with a person who reminded me of Jasper every time I looked at him. I grabbed my messenger bag and stood up, too, shuffling around so I was facing Edward, my back toward the front of the bus. He stared me, frustrated. "I don't care if you know…Jasper," I said quietly, harshly, my voice heavy with tears. "But…I don't want to be in association with a person who has connection to a past that I don't want to remember."

"Bella, I can help,"

"Help with what? I left New York because I was afraid, but, guess what? I'm not afraid anymore. If Jasper wants to come back and find me, let him. At least I'll be ready this time, even if I can't protect myself. Just leave me be, Edward,"

"Bella," his voice was edged with annoyance. Like I was a little child that was pleading for candy in a store. Not a grown women who was denying the help of a stranger to, what? Kill off her almost-murderer? I snorted at the thought.

I slung my messenger bag over my arm and squared my shoulders, looking Edward in the eyes. "_Leave me be, Edward,"_

Turning on my heel, I marched up to the driver and asked him where we were. He blinked in surprise, like he forgot I was on the bus. "Um, south of New York City, why?"

"Could you stop, please? I'm ready to get off." He shrugged, slowing the bus. With one last glance back at Edward who was standing slightly confused in the middle of the aisle, I exited the bus into the cold rain. A clap of thunder echoed in the distance. "At least I'm starting off my fresh start with a bang," I muttered sardonically.

**XXX**

**Review, please and thanks. :)**


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